President Bashar al-Assad of Syria issued two decrees, increasing salaries in Syria by 50%, coinciding with the rise in fuel prices in the country, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
President al-Assad issued Decrees No. 7 and 8, which add a 50% increase to the salaries and fixed wages of civilian workers, military personnel, and retirees in ministries, administrations, public institutions, companies, and establishments of the public sector, as well as all administrative units, popular work, confiscated companies, private schools, and other joint-sector entities where the state’s contribution is not less than 75% of their capital.
Article 3 of Decree No. 7 stipulates that the general minimum wage and minimum professional wages for workers in the private, cooperative, and joint sectors not covered by the Basic Law for State Employees No. 50 of 2004 and its amendments shall be increased to 278,910 Syrian pounds per month.
Syria’s Finance Minister Kenan Yaghi, in a statement to the Syrian newspaper “Al-Watan,” stated that the cost of the current salary increase amounted to 2.5 trillion Syrian pounds, which will be disbursed throughout the year as part of the monthly salaries. The decree will be implemented with the first salary payment.
Yaghi emphasized that the goal of the salary increase is to maintain the purchasing power of state employees.
He noted that the government’s constant concern is to improve the living standards of citizens, always striving, depending on available resources, to enhance income and wages.
In the same context, the Syrian Ministry of Internal Trade reported an unprecedented increase in the cost of securing bread daily, reaching over 7,000 Syrian pounds per bundle.
The ministry explained that this price increase is due to a combination of global factors, including the rising prices of wheat and bread-making ingredients worldwide, complications in maritime and land trade routes, as well as local factors linked to the consequences of years of war and siege, the conversion of large areas designated for wheat cultivation, and the occupation of oil production wells by the United States.
The rising costs of repairing and rehabilitating facilities, bakeries, and infrastructure related to bread production that were damaged by terrorism in various provinces have also had a significant impact on prices.
